Pan Yun raised her brows. "What makes Father say that?"
"The rumors I heard outside—just tell me whether they're true."
Pan Yun merely smiled without speaking.
Pan Hong understood. There was an eighty or ninety percent chance it was true.
His spirits lifted, and he memorized even more diligently. Thank heaven—after seventy or eighty years, the salaries of Ming Dynasty officials had finally risen instead of fallen.
Before the New Year, Japan had sent back two ships of silver, which docked at Tianjin Port. At the same time, the tariffs from Tianjin Port and Quanzhou Port had been sorted out and delivered to the Capital City.
Because officialdom had been rectified and the Emperor had paid special attention, the silver from the two ports' taxes and Omori village had all been transported back to the Capital City without error, with very little loss upon entering the treasury.
Together with tax revenues from across the country entering the treasury, the national coffers had rarely been so full.
The Emperor knew that when the nation was prosperous, the people had to prosper as well. Only when the entire country rejoiced could it be called true joy.
So he first distributed the compensation payments that had been overdue since last year, then replaced all the Treasure Notes in officials' salaries with silver and copper coins. After the New Year, funds for spring agricultural aid were also allocated. Looking at the money remaining and considering that several ports would open this year, the new Emperor waved his hand grandly and, seizing the excellent opportunity presented by the reform of officialdom, raised officials' salaries.
First, it would encourage the officials to work hard and seek blessings for the nation;
Second, it would dispel the dissatisfaction caused by the reform of officialdom.
Third, it would unite